Steam cooking systems have been successfully employed by restaurants, hospitals and other food service operations to prepare quickly and conveniently large quantities of food. Many such cookers are used in high volume situations. Typical steam cooking systems include a steam cooker boiler that is used to generate steam. The boiler includes a heating element that is used to heat water located in the boiler. The steam is delivered to a cooking chamber having food located therein. Often times, water is maintained at a pre-selected level within the steam cooker boiler by refilling the boiler with water as the water, in the form of steam, exits the boiler. Occasionally, the water is drained from the boiler along with sediment that may accumulate in the boiler. It is desirable to provide steamers with reduced maintenance requirements.